Don’t please, just say ‘please’.

Kites – Flies high with style and melodrama

A film by Anurag Basu always invokes curiosity clubbed with expectation. And, usually, he delivers top notch. ‘Kites’ doesn’t disappoint.

The film, primarily made to cater international audience, has strong overtones of a hollywood set up and the exquisite looks suggest the inevitable intentions of the producers.

I would not talk about the script here as there isn’t much to dwell and introspect. An ordinary effort in writing is hugely compensated by lavish locations and the subtle direction of Basu, especially in the second half. The film takes a riveting shape in the latter part and leads to a pulsating yet realistic end. It is not a quintessential love story with the mundane ‘lived happily ever after’ tag line. I liked the way it concluded, for such kind of enterprising and vivid love stories can only have an aftermath that lies in tatters.

The lead cast is the biggest strength of the film and the over reliance could be explicitly visible. The same cannot be said about the supporting characters though. They are pedestrian. Hrithik Roshan as the suave and ambitious young man is fantastic. ‘Fire’ does set the screen of fire and is a treat to watch. Barbara Modi with her effervescent smile looks gorgeous and charming. She’s got talent and has the potential to go a long way in the industry (might not necessarily be in the Indian scenario though). It is imperative that the biggest asset of ‘Kites’ is their sizzling chemistry on-screen. Kangana Ranaut has been thoroughly wasted and I am not sure why she has to accept a special appearance role at this juncture of her career. She is immensely talented and deserves a better deal. Nothing extraordinary about Rajesh Roshan’s music, but couple of numbers are foot tapping. Salim Sulaiman’s background score is predictably good and acquires an above average score.

For me, ‘Kites’ is watchable for two reasons: Hrithik’s on screen exploits and Anurag Basu’s slick direction. That would fetch enough to make it worth the money.